Love is a Constant Yet Annoying Emotion
by Sawadork
Summary: Bill wasn't sure how this whole human emotion thing would work out. He was an all powerful demon. But he felt less like a demon and more like the human he sometimes craved to be when he was with Dipper.


"Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk past again?"

Dipper groaned. This was the fifth time this day Bill had popped out of nowhere with the worst pick-up line on his lips and his black eyes looking excitable at Dipper's constant annoyed looks. He seemed to thrive off of how Dipper reacted because he kept coming back.

It had been years since the Weirdmageddon incident and Bill, now a significantly chiller being, had gone into a mortal vessel to do more damage in Earth's realm, or so he says. He had given up on domination for the moment, saying he was waiting for the right time, and stuck around Dipper as he went through University.

"Pine Tree! You seem unamused." Bill called. It was still weird to hear the low baritone of Bill's voice compared to his screechy, high pitched voice in his true form.

"You just seemed to be doing this constantly now." Dipper sighed, rubbing his eyes. He had a research paper due tomorrow and he was barely over halfway finished. With Bill constantly popping up, it was a little hard to focus.

"You're fun to mess around with." Bill jumped down from the desk Dipper was using, stumbling a little as he was still not used to walking. It had been five years since he had been in the vessel and Dipper would have thought he'd gotten the hang of it yet. But Bill simply smiled and turned back to Dipper, his entire face contorting perfectly around his mouth. "Did I die because you must be an angel."

Dipper let out a groan of annoyance, which prompted Bill to cackle happily as he popped out of Dipper's room, back into another plane of existence to do his job as a demon.

The peace and quiet in Dipper's room didn't help him though as he was also left with his thoughts.

Instead of thinking about what he should write down for the remaining three paragraphs, he found himself staring up at the picture his twin Mabel had taken of Bill and he. The picture was taken during the last week of exams and Dipper was constantly studying. This was his last year of high school and if he failed these exams he would have to retake the entire year. So obviously he didn't value his hygeine very much. Mabel had tried to talk him into taking a shower and just _sleeping_ at least but he wouldn't. He was too stressed and sleeping when he could be studying just made no sense. He needed to pass with fantastic grades and if he didn't get at least an eighty on his exams, he would drop down below his 95 average and he needed that to get into the university he wanted.

He was just a mess. Mabel told Bill about what he was doing, Dipper guessed, since the three had become extremely close. So out of nowhere, Bill had appeared and took away his notes, made him get into the shower, and finally made him eat something after who knows how long. Dipper was dead on his feet by the time Bill was pushing him up the stairs with his cane, not wanting to touch Dipper in his almost decayed state. By the time Dipper hit the bed he had almost forgotten about studying; until he saw his notes and he tried to get up again. Bill had to hold Dipper down, sitting on his hips until Dipper stopped struggling. Bill had no problem with it, using actual force was something that he had grown to enjoy after his years of being in a body of pure energy. So when Dipper finally gave up, Bill flopped down, using the closeness to his advantage to cuddle with Dipper. It was extremely hard for Dipper to relax but Bill did something he usually didn't do. He wiped his hand tenderly across Dipper's forehead, using some magic to knock Dipper out. Mabel had found them cuddled together, not missing the perfect scrapbooking opportunity as she took a picture and printed off four copies, two for Bill and Dipper and one for anybody else that wanted one. The last one was for Mabel's scrapbook and she was still gloating to this day over how she was able to get a picture of the two snuggled together like that.

Dipper smiled at the memory. It was funny watching Bill get annoyed over a little thing like that. Mabel and Dipper both knew he wasn't that mad as there was usually a small smile tugging at his lips. But it was a running joke that the three had.

" _Dipper!_ " Somebody screamed, making Dipper hold back a yell of surprise. Mabel came bursting into view and Dipper tried to look busy, saying scathingly, "Mabel! What is it? You know I have a paper due soon and that I'm working on it."

"Whoa, this is more important, bro. This is about more than knowledge. This is about having fun!" Mabel said, throwing her hands up in her enthusiasm. Dipper wasn't seeing it and just turned back to his laptop, continuing to type away.

"I don't know what you're talking about Mabel. I have a great time. On my own."

He looked over and saw Mabel looking at him with disbelief, shaking her head. "No, you don't. You sit at home whenever you don't have class. You barely go outside! That can't be healthy!" Mabel sighed, holding out her hands in a placating manner. "Okay, so hear me out; I want to throw a party. SInce it's almost the holidays, everybody's going to be throwing last minute ones before break. So why don't we?"

"I don't know, Mabel." Dipper said, turning his chair so he was facing her. "Parties aren't really my thing. And who are we going to invite in the first place? Who would even _want_ to come in the first place, Mabel?"

"Oh don't be such a Dipper Downer! Lot's of people will come. You just have to promise them the right thing and they'll come."

"What are you gonna promise them? Free condoms?"

"Ew, Dipper. That's disgusting. I'm promising them free jelly beans. They're the best kind of bean!" Mabel flailed her sweater sleeves at Dipper's face, laughing as Dipper faked getting hurt.

"It's good to see you two bonding still." Bill said, floating behind Dipper. Mabel turned her sweater flailing towards Bill who smiled happily before floating out of Mabel's reach.

"Bill! What have I said about popping out of nowhere!" Dipper snapped, making Bill's smile turn wicked.

"You think you, a lowly human, can boss me, an eternal being that is worshipped by millions, and tell me what to do?" Bill cackled, the idea seeming hilarious to him. "That's funny, Pine tree."

Dipper stared at Bill in indignation, shaking his head slightly. Bill shrugged, floating leisurely towards Dipper's bed and flopping onto it. He didn't seem too bothered it wasn't his as he laid in it, making himself right at home as he folded his lanky limbs closer to himself. He reminded Dipper of a cat, always doing what he pleased, no matter what other people said. It was kind of weird because cats were Bill's favourite animal. Those were the only animals Bill would not terrorize.

"I agree with what Shooting Star's trying to do though." Bill said. "A party could be good to throw."

"Really!?" Mabel asked, her excitement peaking as she looked at Bill happily.

"Really. Where's the party going to be?"

"Oh, um, I don't know. We can't exactly rent out a place and it has to be easy to get to as well."

Bill waved a hand absently, a piece of paper floating off of Dipper's desk from the movement. "I can get you a place don't worry about that. I'm known for my parties alongside everything else. Man! You should have seen the party I threw when I tried to take over Gravity Falls; went on for days. Of course it didn't feel very long since I'm an immortal being of energy that has lived for millennia so it felt like a few blinks of the eye."

"Well, could you really get us a place to throw the party?" Mabel asked, choosing to ignore Bill's story.

"Of course I can! Just give me two days!"

And two days later, Dipper was forced to decorate with Mabel and Bill for the party later on in the day. More people would have came to help but school was still on by the time Dipper and Mabel were almost done decorating so them coming over to help was basically pointless. By the time the party was in full swing, all the carefully hung streamers and balloons were used as props for games and scattered along the floor like it was a battle ground. The entire room in the abandoned factory, the first floor completely void of any equipment and the concrete floor looking significantly less grimy from when they started, was bathed in a red and blue hue. Mabel seemed to match with the decor as she had neon green leggings paired with a similar coloured dress and pink heels. This outfit made her the subject of conversation as they all ran over to her and talked.

Dipper, on the other hand, was slouched against the wall in his black dress shirt and jeans. That was the nicest thing he owned and it was also the darkest things he owned. His pale and almost vampire-like complexion didn't help him make good conversation as he was tired and wasn't sure how to hold a conversation in the first place. If he wasn't talking about something he enjoyed he wasn't good at talking. His summer flirting that ended in him getting almost eaten by a spider made him never want to hit on a girl again.

After a while he had enough. He managed to slip out into the back, the overgrown grass bending under his feet, and he sat on the hill that overlooked the town. It was a nice and clear night, the breeze going just enough to ruffle his hair slightly, making his bangs teeter dangerously around his birthmark. It wasn't even snowing, which was a little weird as they weren't in California anymore so he expected there to be _some_ snow. But it was mainly just slightly chilly. He liked it this way, it felt like fall, near the time of Halloween where everything was just starting to turn and fall. It was his favourite time of year.

He shared the same sentiments with Bill too. Bill loved the idea of a holiday where all you celebrated was the death of everything. Autumn was also something the demon seemed to grow to enjoy with Dipper. Since it wasn't as hot on Earth then it was in Bill's realm, he was forced to wear some form of a sweater. Of course, in summer it would look weird, But in autumn is was accepted and he got away with wearing his oversized black sweaters and enjoying that Dipper finally let him cuddle up to him when he was cold.

"Hey Pine tree!" Bill said, scaring Dipper.

"Speak of the devil." Dipper grumbled. Bill seemed confused but shrugged.

"He isn't that great of guy because, believe it or not, he had a huge crush on God; it was just sad. Then he fell and made the demons and all that jazz, just to impress God. It was the biggest, "look at me, love me!" I've ever seen. Of course I was only around to see the most recent bit as I wasn't one of the first demons created, that's all Cain. And then Luci was always moaning about how he was kicked out of heaven and ordering us around, trying to do things to get back on God's good side. It was a mess. He's stopped bossing me around though because I'm the most powerful dream demon at the moment and don't like being told what to do."

Bill smiled, his pointed canines sticking out compared other teeth. Dipper snorted, laying down in the grass so he could see the stars. Bill hovered over near him, seeming to be debating something, before he collapsed onto Dipper. He tucked his head underneath Dipper's chin and his entire body curled on top of Dipper's chest, resembling that of a cat curling up to Dipper again. Dipper was used to it though and adjusted himself accordingly; placing one hand around Bill's middle, the other tracing on Bill's shoulder blade lightly.

This position was one they had for whenever Bill forced Dipper to come and sleep, or just because Bill was cold. He really hated the temperatures, or he was just taking advantage of the privilege, Dipper didn't know. All he knew was that he had grown to hate it as a chore less and less. Bill certainly did it enough to break him into the idea of actually touching somebody romantically.

"Pine Tree, why aren't you inside?" Bill asked suddenly. Dipper didn't know how to answer that so he shrugged, making Bill look up at him in annoyance. "I require an answer."

Dipper sighed. "Parties aren't really my thing. Mabel has that side of her but I just don't find them as fun as you two might. I'd rather be at home; studying or something. Now that I don't really have to do things to protect the people I love there isn't much I can do but read up on everything like Great Uncle Ford did and try to pick up the pieces."

"Boo!" Bill hissed, surprising Dipper. Usually Bill went along and insulted him more. "That's not a good reason. You humans have such fleeting and useless existences but within that short span of time. You saved the entire world from me, you helped Glasses secure the breach in the universe. That's not useless."

Dipper, a little taken aback at how Bill said it so confidently, nodded slightly.. "It doesn't feel like it but...Thanks."

"Always here to help." Bill smiled up at Dipper, seeming to lean in but back away at the last moment. " If you don't want to be here we should go back to your apartment then. Be somewhere you're comfortable at least."

"What about you, Bill?"

"I'm good with anything. I'm a demon! I could pop into another dimension and take it over and be back here before you even noticed! If it gets boring I could do exactly that!"

"Very comforting." Dipper said, a little bitterly. Bill looked up at him with skepticism, not having a full scope of sarcasm just yet, before jumping off of Dipper. Bill had a fistful of Dipper's shirt and seemed to jump through a portal as they were suddenly landing on Dipper's bed.

Dipper landed on top of Bill, straddling him as he tried to gain his bearings; wondering what had just happened. Bill seemed flustered, his entire face seeming to turn as red as a rose and his mouth twisted up. Dipper wasn't aware of this change as he tried to situate himself, making Bill even more flustered as he tried to get out from underneath Dipper, the boy had grown lanky and his limbs were flailing enough to constrict him even more. Finally, Bill flipped the two over, sitting on Dipper's abdomen so he would stop moving enough so they wouldn't hit each other in their haste.

"Pine Tree, this is not a time to be flailing!" Bill said, crossing his arms in annoyance and staring down at Dipper, his scowl evident. Dipper seemed embarrassed and just nodded, his arms falling duly to his side as he let Bill sit on him.

"If you had sat still then we wouldn't have this problem, you stupid triangle." Dipper grumbled angrily.

"But, sadly, I'm not a triangle anymore." Which, grudgingly, was very true.

Bill's vessel was, "Very hot", according to Mabel. It was a shock the first time they saw Bill as more than a triangle as it had only been over a year after the weirdmageddon incident and here comes this insanely attractive guy, dark eyes; long blond hair; the chiseled jaw that made it look like you could break a hand if you hit him; he wasn't very tall though so he looked pudgy and had a baby-face that made a weird contrast that somehow worked; and his skin glowed with that really dark tan you only see on people from the mediterranean. It was a shock to see that and to have him save them from a horde of mutants made by Bill's effect on Gravity Falls. It seemed too good to be true.

The entire horde is gone in the blink of an eye and this guy is helping Mabel up and waves his hand around Mabel's face where her temple was oozing, the skin automatically patching back together, and he turns to Dipper. Dipper knew it wasn't some ordinary guy, nobody ever has black eyes. And the guys speaking and it's Bill, the reason they lost so much, the reason they suffered _so much_ , was right in front of him, And he couldn't do anything but stare dumbly as Bill explained he had given up on taking over this world in this time since there would be too many forces stopping him.

Dipper felt Bill fall against him again, his breath hitting Dipper against the hollow of his throat. And his heart faltered and stopped for the smallest of beats, making Dipper nervous as he wasn't sure why he seemed anxious over being close to Bill. But Bill could fit against him better than anybody else and it was nice like that as there wasn't any pressure to do anything but be there together. It made him relax and he carded his hands through Bill's hair, using it as something to calm himself down. This was just a regular night between the two as Bill usually did this. Sometimes there was something in realms Bill had to go to so Dipper was alone, but not really. So this was fine.

That's mainly what Bill found interesting about Dipper. There was always so much going through Dipper's mind that Bill had a hard time reading it, yet when they sat down together, there was barely anything but emotion and feelings in small bursts that came through. Never any complete thoughts. He wasn't sure if it was because he was incapable or just didn't want to but it kept Bill constantly wondering what was happening.

"Are aliens real?" Dipper asked, the silence broken. His voice sounded sluggish, like he was about to go to sleep yet had needed that question answered.

"Aliens as in space aliens?" Bill asked. Seeing Dipper's nod, his eyes drooping, he smiled wickedly. "They are. Most of them are annoyingly superior. Think they can get away with anything.."

"W-What?" Dipper sat bolt upright, making Bill shift into a new position grudgingly, and was suddenly not so sleepy. "Why didn't you tell me before! This changes _so much._ I could actually meet one and-and this is huge, Bill."

"You're awfully excited about this so I'm going to tell you right now that they're a bunch of snobs. They don't think they'll get in trouble if they do anything that could endanger the entire universe; always blame it on the human race. Ugh, I hate interacting with them. Don't try to talk to them, they'll see if they can dissect you. If you have the sad pleasure of being in their presence and they ask if you want H2 O2 , run and never look back because that's some code I had to figure out the hard way."

"You took all the fun out of this, Bill." Dipper said, his face falling slightly as he looked back.

"Oh well, that's what I'm best at."

Dipper seemed to be thinking of what to say as he settled back down, his breathing seeming to pick up in nervousness? Bill couldn't get a read on Dipper's thoughts either as there was nothing but a constant stream of ten emotions, all at once. It was too much to eavesdrop on and he had to stop and just wait for what might have been coming.

What he didn't expect was Dipper to hug him as close as possible. Dipper usually never hugged back, prefered to just let Bill cuddle up on his own, so this new development was more than welcome for Bill. What he felt inside of himself was weird though.

His entire body was on high alert, his face too warm, his heart going too fast for comfort, his hands were starting to sweat, his entire body trembled in anticipation as he waited for something, anything, to happen as they laid there.

Nothing did though, much to Bill's disappointment as he wasn't sure what else to do. His nerves were shot and every fibre of his being screamed at him to do something to alleviate what this feeling was but he wasn't sure _how._

He wasn't human. He didn't know how to deal with this as he, as much as he wished sometimes, wasn't mortal. He was just using this as a vessel, this meat suit a witch helped him cook up so he could recover easier and faster to his full capacity. Then he grew attached to these Pines twins and he wished he would have watched them be mauled so he wouldn't have to feel like this.

He hated it.

Dipper seemed to sense what Bill was going through and started gently carding his fingers through Bill's hair. There wasn't much on his right side and back of his head as Mabel had finally won on the argument of giving him a proper haircut. But he stuck to the long bang he had, going over the left side of his head and cascading down onto his shoulder. But Dipper still found a way to gently curl some of the longer hair around a finger and tug playfully, making Bill snort in amusement.

"What's wrong?" Dipper asked. He rested his chin on top of Bill's head, feeling Bill move closer to his neck. That used to make him shiver in anxiety, not sure if Bill was going to stoke or strike his collarbone. It was always a game with Bill, never was there a place where there wasn't some form of a joke.

"Nothing! Why do you worry about me so much?" Bill lied smoothly. He wasn't going to tell Pine Tree what was wrong. Maybe what if what he was feeling was one of the things Dipper considered weird.

"Because you're my friend." Dipper stifled a yawn as he let his hands drop from Bill's hair. "And because I love you."

There it was again. That huge burst of sweaty, panic strewn feelings Bill always felt when Dipper said anything like that. It was never an outright 'I love you' like this one but there were non-verbal cues all the damn time.

But Dipper was asleep now so Bill couldn't wake him up. That was just weird and maybe it was just a slip and Dipper never meant to say it.

That _must_ be it.

But looking at Dipper, seeing how his face relaxed, his entire body moulding around Bill's with no hesitation, his arms locked like a vice grip around his torso, Bill honestly hoped that Dipper hadn't been lying.

And, luckily or not, Dipper remembered everybody very clearly in the morning. Even if Bill acted the same, Dipper realized something was off. Bill wasn't good at hiding his emotions very well in his human form, no matter what he liked to think. So when Bill glanced more at Dipper's eyes, his lips, the way he walked, then usual, he realized something was up.

Mabel seemed to know too which was infuriating. He guessed Bill had called her or something later on after Dipper had pushed him out of his room so he could do some school work and Bill had kind of disappeared. He came back looking anxious and addled as he floated through the apartment, occasionally going too high and bumping into the ceiling.

Of course, after slight deliberation, Dipper came to realize what he said the night before and sat, staring at his desk, trying to sift through everything he was suddenly aware of.

He knew for one thing that Bill was one of his best friends. Soos and Wendy were good friends but they were in Gravity Falls and they never really talked anymore, having lost touch along the way. But Bill was always there and had even helped Dipper through a mental breakdown after the sudden increase in workload he was given. It was nice to have somebody and Bill had this weird sense of humour that seemed to always help Dipper have a small smile on his face long enough to make him feel a little better. Then there was Bill's smile. He had no idea what it was but it just fit so well and made Bill look so cute that Dipper wanted Bill to always smile, no matter what. His smile was the best thing about him, it made him look so happy and it lit up his whole face and-.

Oh.

Oh no.

Dipper Pines had the sudden realization he was very gay for his best friend.

It didn't seem to be something else either because these intense feelings that Dipper felt whenever Bill was around had made his heart hurt. He wanted to be able to be there with Bill all the time and be able to just hold his hand without feeling weird about it because they weren't dating.

He had to ask somebody about this. This was so weird because he only really had a major crush on Wendy and that had fizzled out as the time wore on. He didn't have much knowledge on this area. But he knew somebody that did!

Mabel! It was obvious! She could help him!

And so he ended up calling her, having to deal with her grumbling over how he didn't help with the party clean up like he had promised.

"I'm sorry, Mabel, Bill just kind of whisked me away." Dipper said sheepishly.

"Whatever. You owe me though, Dipper." Mabel grumbled. There were sounds of ruffling in the distance and he guessed she was still cleaning.

"Well, the reason I called is, I, uh, need your help."

That made Mabel perk right up. She dropped what she was holding, the crash of plastic cups rattling together audible through the line, and she squealed softly. "Oooo, what is it, bro?"

"Well…" Dipper got up from his desk, guessing Bill could hear him from where he was floating on the other side of the wall. He left the apartment, walking through the halls as he talked. "I think I have a crush on somebody and I have no idea where it came from."

There was a sharp cry of "I knew it!"and other moans of protest before Mabel answered. "Dipper! Who is it! You need to tell me right now so I can freak out, according to how much I like them."

"W-Well, I think you'll like this one as it's Bill."

There was another scream and a crash. Dipper had no idea how to react to any of this.

"Just a second meet me at the usual place in fifteen minutes!" Mabel quickly cut the call and left Dipper standing two floors up from where his apartment actually was located, making him scramble to get back and get ready.

The usual place was just a family-owned coffee shop Mabel liked to go to. It ended up being one of Dipper' favourites too so it was the place where the two of them met up if they needed to talk or just hang out together. It was an unspoken rule between their friends that they don't bother the two if they're going to 'the usual place'.

Mabel was already there, her bright thigh high socks the thing that made her stand out the most. Dipper was walking along the sidewalk the lead up to the door and suddenly he heard Mabel banging on the window trying to get his attention. She was holding something up that Dipper couldn't read and everybody was staring at her. Dipper hurried inside and sat at the table, his neck burning, and tried to calm her down.

"Mabel! This isn't something you should be screaming about." Dipper tried to scold her but she wasn't going to listen to him as she flung herself across the table, pulling him into a headlock.

"I knew it!" She cheered. "You need to tell him!"

"Mabel! You need to calm down or something. You can't be yelling this!" Dipper wrenched himself out of the headlock and held Mabel at arms length. She was practically bouncing in her excitement and Dipper smiled at that. At least she was excited about it.

"I can't, Dipper!" She said, almost screaming, He shrunk in on himself when he felt people staring but Mabek didn't care as she kept talking. "Summer romance is what I'm good at!"

"It isn't summer, Mabel. It's almost Christmas."

"Which is perfect because there's also mistletoe."

"Mabel you aren't helping me." Dipper sighed, running his hand through his hair. He slumped into the booth Mabel had and she sat across from him. She seemed to sober up as she settled down herself, asking, "Then why do you think you like him."

"...I don't know. It's just that I get so excited thinking about him, and how he laughs, it's this cute snort mixed with an exhale, and his smile just makes his entire face just fit and…" Dipper ran out of things he could list as he didn't know what else to say. There was just _so many_ reasons as to why he liked Bill.

"Is there any reason besides physical?" Mabel asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, yeah. He's always there, even when I wish he would leave, and tries his best at everything. He's really competitive and if he sees that I'm not doing the greatest he'll always pull me away from what I'm doing and distract me. He saw me have a nervous breakdown once and said that he'd do what he could and I think he's trying his best to help me in any way he can and that is the one thing that only one other person has done."

Mabel blinked before her face broke into an even bigger smile, her straight teeth poking through. "You seem to be very deep into this, broham. Which makes it even better because I know something you don't about Bill and you have to guess what it is!"

"Mabel, come on that's not fair." Dipper said, his voice pitching. He held out his hand, using it for emphasis for his words. "I tell you everything."

"Nope!" Mabel smiled mischievously as she high fived Dipper. "This isn't something I can say without Bill trying to kill me so good luck. Also we should order cake because this is a celebration."

"A celebration of what?"

"That you're finally going to admit that the party was a good idea."

"Mabel, you're so wrong. Parties are terrible. And how are you not hungover?"

"Because I don't drink anything at my own parties. I have to be the one to cleanup and cleaning up while I feel like I'm going to puke. It's not something you want to try. I have to clean up other people's mess in the morning so I have to have a clear head!"

Dipper stared at her in confusion before shaking his head. He would have thought for sure that Mabel would have participated in some of the drinking games since she did that a lot anyways. Mabel smiled at him, her eyes closing.

"I'm smart too, Dipper. So anyways, about that cake..."

Bill was sleeping in Dipper's bed when he got back, carrying a piece of cake in a bag from the store. Mabel had talked him into splitting one but she had most of it since her favourite flavour of cake was more. Bill rolled over the minute Dipper walked in though and stared at him in mild confusion.

"Why are you sleeping?" Dipper blurted out, not sure what else to say.

"I'm sleeping because it's another way I can torment people in their dreams. I just didn't feel like being there physically since I wasn't sure when you'd be back." Bill answered. He rolled back over, his back to Dipper, and seemed to go back to sleep, laying completely still.

"Alright then." Dipper mumbled as he took his laptop and started moving it to the dinner table. Bill had a habit of leaving his vessel for his other form. He said it was easier but teleporting shouldn't be that hard for him since he popped in and out of Dipper's life all the time.

"You don't have to leave. Just don't move my body when I come back." Bill said suddenly, surprising Dipper.

"Oh, um, I wasn't sure." Dipper stammered. He sat in his chair and fiddled with his laptop, positioning it a certain way and making it so he could quickly get his notes if he needed to, before he finally got to work.

Bill didn't answer Dipper back as he went through other people's dreams. Dipper wasn't sure he wanted to know what Bill did as what he had gotten was pretty twisted. He had laid off the twisted dreams for now on Dipper, who couldn't imagine why, but Dipper was sure that he was going to get them when he least expected them.

Of course his entire school life was a nightmare as what he was studying, physics, wasn't a walk in the park. He read somewhere that the first year universities make the courses you need to move on to be a physicist extremely hard, just to weed out weaker people from the field.

Dipper was feeling the strain as he understood the theories and knew how to apply them but the questions on tests and homework assignments was making him hysterical as he tried to figure them out. Ford had tried to help but he admitted that he had done terrible in this year too and wasn't really fit to help him.

So Dipper was mainly suffering as he tried to do everything. He was trying though and that's the thing that Bill reminded him when he raised the question if he should drop out of this field.

"Getting it immediately is something only ridiculously smart, uptight people can do, Pine tree." Bill had stated. "You're smart but if you were uptight like Glasses then that'd get boring after a while. If you're doing as much as you can, it shouldn't matter how good you're doing. Just try and even if you don't succeed, it'll just make you work harder since you're ridiculously stubborn like that."

That small little pep talk actually helped Dipper a lot more then what other people had said and he clung to it. If at least one person was proud of him for doing what he could, suffering through this was worth it.

After almost of hour of sitting hunched over everything he needed to complete his assignment, he felt Bill behind him, most likely floating so he was taller then Dipper. Dipper didn't look over as he knew what the demon would say, "It's time to eat; go outside; have a shower; etc" and he wasn't ready to do that because he needed to get this done! It may be the weekend but that doesn't mean there was a break.

"Pine tree, take a break already. I've been hearing you breath heavily for the last hour." Bill said, making the pen fly out of Dipper's hand.

"I don't need to take a break, Bill; I need to finish this." Dipper rationalized. Bill wasn't having it though as he pulled Dipper's chair back far enough that the only thing that kept it from toppling was Bill's hand.

"This isn't up for debate, Dipper. If you keep going you won't stop till tomorrow and be too exhausted to do much for the next few days. For you it's almost the break. You have one more week. Don't mess it up by forcing yourself to work."

Dipper nodded meekly, his eyes wide. He hadn't realized how late it actually was and that it hadn't been about an hour but it was actually five. Bill narrowed his eyes even further before he let the chair softly bounce back to being on all four legs. Dipper obeyed Bill as he pushed the chair away from the desk and followed him out to the kitchen, the adjacent hallway from Dipper's room casting a weird glow from the hall light.

But Dipper stopped dead as he realized Mabel had been through. She had a key to his apartment so she could go in and out whenever she needed, he had the same privilege with her apartment, but Mabel used it more liberally than he. And she expressed that right as she had decorated the entire living room/kitchen bundle with Christmas decorations. Dipper wasn't up for decorating anything if it wasn't Halloween related so this wasn't very welcome. Bill seemed more confused than anything as he looked up at all the garlands curving along the walls; the multi-coloured lights strung underneath the windowsill and around the back of the couch; the two stockings tacked up by the door where Dipper put his keys. Everything had an air of holiday cheer that was never Dipper's style.

"What is this?" Bill asked, gesturing to everything. "I don't like them. Aren't there supposed to be more skulls and dead animals hanging around?"

"That's Halloween. It's the holiday I only like to celebrate at least. Christmas isn't as exciting but Mabel likes it enough to get into a frenzy about it. I'm guessing she's hiding somewhere or left before we came out of the room." Dipper walked over to the stockings hanging by the door, the small room holding all of the shoes having the pungent smell of rain.

Dipper walked away from the door to where he usually kept all the minor decorations underneath the sink when he screamed, falling back. Mabel was sitting there, seeming like she was waiting for him to open the cupboards. She rolled out and pointed accusingly at him, her striped green and red socks looking grimy and her pink dress having the odd grease stain on it.

"I knew you would try to put it away! Dipper why can't you just accept the holidays?" Mabel asked. Bill was leaning over the counter, looking at the exchange with a bored look.

"Because the holidays aren't my thing, Mabel. I'm sorry, but stockings are kind of useless if they're not going to be full by Santa. That's the whole point of it, really."

Mabel looked at him in annoyance, her cheeks puffing out. "Dipper, at least leave the decorations up for the next couple of days. On boxing day you can take them down."

Dipper sighed but relented. There couldn't be any harm in leaving them up at least.

But, of course, there ended up being a lot of harm.

Later on, after Mabel had left for work, Bill was floating through the house as usual as Dipper kept working. He was no fun when he was working, Bill had found, so he liked messing up random things throughout the apartment to annoy Dipper.

This day, he found this weird spring of leaves with a berry on it. It wasn't real, it was all cheap plastic and cloth, but he was curious.

Dipper just looked mortified when he saw it. Of course. Mabel had put up mistletoe.

Mistletoe had an urban legend that you had to kiss the person you're stuck underneath the bushel with. Some people say it became popular around the Victorian era, kissing a person under the bushel being a game where a young man would be able to only kiss the woman as many times as there were berries on the bush. Dipper never got the tradition but had read up on it in his curiosity. Strangely, a lot of people kept trying to catch him under it too. He tended to avoid rooms where he knew they were after that.

But he couldn't this time as Bill usually walked through the apartment with him, just following along and talking to him, and there was a bushel of mistletoe hanging in the doorway of the kitchen.

That was just dirty and he knew that Mabel had done it in a chance to get Dipper to say something to Bill about his feelings for him. But that was a little out of the question considering how ridiculous the entire thing was.

So he just hoped Bill didn't know about this tradition.

Who was he kidding though. Bill knew about it and started laughing the minute he was told the name of it. He was almost in tears when he saw that they were both stuck under it.

"This tradition was always funny to me." Bill commented, pointing to the bushel. "You stand and kiss a person underneath a bunch of leaves? How is that romantic in anyway?"

"I never got it either." Dipper said. He moved to keep walking but Bill flew in front of him, his face a light with mischief.

"Not so fast, Pine Tree! You have to kiss me."

"What, no, I'm not doing that!" Dipper stammered, hoping Bill would just drop it.

"It's tradition though!" Bill said, feigning hurt. "Do you think I'm going to be a bad kisser?"

"You can barely walk sometimes, I don't expect much anymore, Bill."

"That hurts, Pine Tree. Do you just not want to kiss me?"

"Not with these particular circumstances, no." Dipper whispered to himself. Bill perked up at that and flew around Dipper in a circle.

"So any other time you would, eh?" Bill asked, his voice seeming to peak in excitement, just a little bit.

"W-Well, yeah. I guess."

"You _guess_? You don't sound very certain, Pine Tree. Why's that?"

Dipper sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because I've got a huge crush on you and I have no idea if saying this so soon after realizing it is a good thing but it's been coming for a long time and I really like you but you only seem to like me as just a friend or something. That's fine because you're one of my best friends too but...Yeah."

Dipper wasn't sure what else to say as he trailed off. He shuffled his feet, rubbing his arm, and feeling his entire body tighten as he waited for Bill to laugh at him. He was terrible at choosing people to like because they always didn't think of him romantically, always as a friend. He didn't mind as friends were good too but sometimes he wanted somebody he could call and be there for no matter what and be able to say, proudly, "That's my boyfriend."

But Bill didn't laugh like Dipper thought he would. He didn't even say anything as he dropped onto both feet and looked at Dipper in surprise. He seemed to be thinking of so much at the same time Dipper was afraid he would short circuit.

"Bill?" Dipper asked hesitantly. Bill snapped his head up in surprise and seemed to be trying to find words to say.

"You're so stupid." Bill finally ground out. He tugged on the ends of his sweater nervously, looking extremely uncertain as he stepped closer to Dipper, looking ready to bolt at any moment.

"How am I stupid, Bill?" Dipper asked, narrowing his eyes.

Bill opened his mouth but thought better of his answer and closed it. He stepped closer and Dipper felt them bump into each other, Bill's natural scent of iron and smoke wafting near him. Bill was shorter than Dipper and he seemed annoyed at that as he gripped Dipper's shirt, pulling him closer and, almost like he was going to back out, kissed Dipper with an intensity unknown to him.

Everything stopped as they stood there like that. There wasn't anybody but them to witness it and egg them on or cheer; it was only the two of them. Dipper let his eyes slide closed and moved so he could cup Bill's face. Their noses bumped together, their teeth clacked. Dipper felt like his lungs would burst but he didn't want to break away. This was something he had been wanting for a very long time. No matter if it was conscious thought or what, he had built up so much romantic tension between them that it all poured out as his body loosened, his face and neck flushed as he pressed against Bill. Bill slid his hands gently down his shirt, stopping at the hem and gripping it as they tettered on the brink of breaking the kiss.

When they finally let go, panting and heaving at the sudden welcome gulps of oxygen filled them, the two smiled giddily. Bill leaned his forehead against Dipper's, bringing his hand up to run along Dipper's cheekbone.

"Are you religious?" Bill asked, his voice breathy. When Dipper shook his head, he smiled and said, "Well, you're the answer to all of my prayers."

"How am I attracted to you?"

* * *

 **I did this for a secret santa on tumblr, you might have seen it if you were in on it too. I decided to post it on here :)**

 **If you liked this, shoot me a review, tell me what you liked, what you think I did well, if there was something that bothered you. Hit me up,**

 **-Gate**


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